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Lecturers’ withheld salaries: Government agreed to pay part – Investigation
December 28, 2022

By Adesina Wahab


The peace accord brokered between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the federal government by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, involves the payment of a part of the eight months’ salaries withheld by the government to the lecturers, investigation by Vanguard has shown.

A copy of the draft agreement endorsed by Gbajabiamila and the ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, sighted by our correspondent, showed that after visiting President Muhammadu Buhari, the Speaker came to meet the national leadership of ASUU and agreed to the payment of a part of the salaries.

The document was dated October 12, 2022 and was titled “Resolution reached between the leadership of the House of Representatives led by the Honourable Speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and the Academic Staff Union of Universities on 12th October 2022 in the Office of the Speaker.”

The fifth item on the resolution was titled “Withheld salaries,” and it reads thus: The no work no pay policy of government remains a subsisting policy for all industrial actions, but government will on special grounds make a concession to the Academic Staff Union of Universities to pay a part of its salaries during the strike period.”

The grey areas are that it was not stated how many months of the salaries would be paid and when.

The issue of the payment of the salaries was part of the demands made by the union from the government to end the strike.

Other demands are: Immediate signing of the Renegotiated 2009 Agreement, a new salary structure that would allow a professor at bar to earn N1,116,548.35 monthly, payment of arrears of Earned Academic Allowance, release of government white paper on the 2021 visitation panels report to federal universities.

Others are, intervention of the House by drafting a bill to empower the National Universities Commission, NUC, to stop proliferation of universities especially by state governors, the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, UTAS, to replace the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information system, IPPIS, as the payment platform in the university sector.


After meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Speaker met the ASUU leadership and informed them that the FG agreed to the upward review of their salary and that N170 billion had been provided for that in the 2023 budget and N300 billion earmarked for revitalisation fund in the same budget.

The House also promised to address the issue of Earned Academic Allowance in the 2023 budget and that the reports of the visitation panels would be submitted to the House.

Recall that ASUU recently accused Gbajabiamila of deceiving them to call off the strike when the terms of agreement would not be honoured,especially, the issue of the payment of the withheld salaries.

The House came out to say that the Speaker did not extract such agreement from the President or promise the lecturers same.


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Strike: FG, ASUU meeting ends in deadlock
ON NOVEMBER 4, 20208:35 PMIN NEWS
We can’t afford N110bn revitalisation fund—Ngige

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru


ABUJA- THE meeting between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over the poor funding of Universities and the controversy surrounding the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, payment platform, yesterday ended without any resolution.

This is as the Federal Government at the meeting which held at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Abuja, said it cannot afford the N110 billion demanded by the ASUU for funding of revitalisation of universities


Speaking at the end of the meeting, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige told journalists that the government cannot meet the demand of ASUU of revitalisation because of the damaging effects of COVID-19 on the economy.

READ ALSO:FG, States owe N154Bn in taxes — RMAFC
Senator Ngige disclosed that the Federal Government has offered the union N20 billion for revitalisation and N30 billion for Earned Academic Allowances, making it N50 billion all together.

The minister said the government side made all these offers to show its commitment towards the resolution of the prolonged strike of the union.

According to him, “There are three issues. revitalization fund where government offered ASUU N20 billion as a sign of good faith based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) they entered into in 2013 as a result of the renegotiation they had with government in 2009. This present government is still committed to it. That is why we are giving them offers of some fund,” Ngige said.

“This government is not against revitalization but this government says that because of dire economic situation and COVID-19, we cannot really pay the N110 billion which they are demanding for revitalization.

“We offered N20 billion as revitalization fund. On Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), the government offered N30 billion to all the unions in the universities, making it N50 billion all together.

“ASUU is saying that the N30 billion should be for lecturers alone, irrespective of the fact that there are three other unions. So there is a little problem there. We don’t have any money to offer apart from this N30 billion.

“Again, another cardinal issue is the University Transperancy and Accountability Solution (UTAS) versus IPPIS. Today ASUU submitted their document on UTAS for onward submission to National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). As you know last week, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy had approved that NITDA gets their system (UTAS) and subject it to integrity test. This test should be conducted without fear or favour and as early as possible. So today they have submitted the document for onward transmission to NITDA.”

Ngige said the transition period and how to disburse the Earned Academic Allowances and other entitlements remained unresolved as ASUU wanted an exemption from IPPIS whereas the government side headed by the Accountant General of the Federation insisted on IPPIS, being the only government approved payment platform.

He said, “So that is where were are for now. So we are all going back to our principals and they will receive via me the irreducible minimum of what federal government has to offer.

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UROWAYINO JEREMIAH

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities has said it has yet to call off its ongoing strike because it is waiting for the government to conduct an integrity test on the University Transparency and Accountability Solution.

The UTAS is the payment platform created by ASUU in place of government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.

ASSU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi in an interview with The PUNCH said the government needed to give the clearance to National Information Technology Development Agency to conduct integrity test on UTAS.

“The integrity test will be handled by NITDA, it is government that will facilitate it because NITDA is a government, agency and unless you get clearance from the government that test cannot be conducted.”

While speaking on whether the government had accepted UTAS, Ogunyemi said, “We are still talking, we have given them the position of our members, we are thinking we should be able to hold a meeting this week if they have not changed plans.

The meeting for Monday was postponed. In principal, they have accepted UTAS and told us to go for the test, and on our part, we have started the process. We had presented UTAS at three levels, starting with the Ministry of Education, Senate President and members of his team, officials of Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, where all other stakeholders were present, including NITDA, all stakeholders have witnessed the presentation and the next stage of integrity test is what we are moving in to.

If government facilitates it, it is not something that should drag for too long at all. We don’t foresee any problem with UTAS; it also depends on how early the government makes it possible for the integrity test to be conducted.”

Ogunyemi also explained that ASUU was ready to resume academic activities if the government was ready to play its part.

“Our members are ready to resume work as early as government is ready to play its part. I’m sure you are not suggesting that our members should resume on empty stomach or the strike should be suspended without any concrete action on the side of the government. We don’t like to stay away from our work because we like our students, they are also our children.

As far as we are concerned, we don’t have issue with going back to work, but we want more sincerity on the side of government.

“We have not seen enough reasons to believe that they don’t mean what they are telling us but as soon as we see any sign to that effect. we will tell Nigerians.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/why-we-havent-called-off-strike-ASUU/%3famp=1